PESHAWAR, Aug 3: Due to bureaucratic hurdles, a US-based international donor agency, AmeriCares, has withdrawn its pledge to construct eight pre-fabricated rural health centres in the earthquake zone of the NWFP, official sources said.

According to officials of the provincial health department, AmeriCares had agreed to construct 20 rural health centres at a total cost of $3.20 million in the earthquake zones of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and the northern district of the NWFP. A Memorandum of Understanding had already been signed between the government and the donor organisation, wherein the latter had agreed to construct 12 rural health centres in the AJK zone, while the remaining eight in the earthquake zones of the NWFP.

According to the MoU, the World Health Organisation was supposed to help AmeriCares as well as the government in the identification and construction of Basic Health Units, officials said.

AmeriCares had agreed to bear all construction expenditures of the pre-fabricated rural health centres containing 15 rooms, a laboratory and x-ray room, the sources said.

The health departments of the NWFP and the AJK have agreed to provide the entire technical staff and bear running expenses, including the salaries for the staff.

Both the AJK and NWFP governments had agreed to identify a spot for the proposed construction of the rural health units before July 1, 2006, and the donor agency had showed its willingness to complete the construction process before August 31.

The NWFP government had identified sites in Kewai, Chowki in Mansehra district, Chakesar and Maira in Shangla district, Boi, Ayubia in Abbottabad district, Thakot in Battagram district, and Bettera in Kohistan district.

Though the staff of the donor agency approved the AJK sites, and reportedly the construction is almost half-way, while in the case of the NWFP the health department has failed to identify appropriate sites because most of the cites it had identified were lacking in space due to which construction work has not been started at most of the sites, the sources maintained.

When the contractor visited the identified sites, most of them were not suitable for such heavy investment as they were lacking in proper spacing, an official of the donor agency confirmed Dawn.

An official said that when only 28 days had been left in the expiry of the period of the construction, it was impossible to complete its construction by the 31st of August.

“Certainly the donor agency has already hinted to withdraw the investment and its local staff is trying its level best to convince them for extension of the construction period,” he further said.

When this correspondent tried to contact the secretary health for official comments, his personal assistant claimed that he was not in the office. However, a well-placed source in the health secretariat claimed that some senior officials were demanding commission and the contractor was refusing to do so.

He lamented that under such a situation how could the health officials be expected to provide them ideal sites.